Nelsonville-York routs Belpre

By RON JOHNSTON

BELPRE — Even though the scoreboard didn’t reflect it, underdog Belpre High outplayed Nelsonville-York in the first half.

But after the break, the Golden Eagles were unable to keep pace, and ultimately dropped a 28-7 decision to the Buckeyes in Tri-Valley Conference football action at Ralph Holder Stadium Friday night.

BHS (2-8) battled playoff-bound N-Y (8-1) to standstill in the first quarter, limiting the visitors to zero first downs.

Late in the second quarter, the Golden Eagles put together a 12-play, 65-yard scoring march, capped by RJ Walker’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Mark Tate. Curtis Meriwether kicked the extra point, and the home team led 7-0 on Senior Night.

That Belpre score must have served as a wake-up call for Nelsonville-York, which was ranked No. 3 in Ohio Division V, Region 19 going into the game. After the ensuing kickoff, the Buckeyes drove from the Belpre 49 to the 19, where quarterback Jay Edwards hooked up with Michael Barrick in the end zone, making it 7-6.

Edwards then ran for the 2-point conversion to give N-Y an 8-7 advantage with less than a minute remaining before the first half.

Josh Sizemore returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards, and after Nelsonville-York was whistled for a personal foul (late hit), Belpre got the ball at the Buckeyes’ 12-yard line. Unable to move the ball and with time running out, Meriwether attempted a 34-yard field, but missed.

BHS trailed by just one point at the half.

During Nelsonville-York’s opening second-half possession, Edwards hit Josh Clifton with a 43-yard scoring strike, and then split the uprights with a PAT to make it 15-7.

With one second left in the third period, Edwards tossed a 10-yard TD pass to Bear Lewis to stretch the Buckeyes’ lead to 21-7.

In the contest, Edwards completed 12-of-22 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns. The senior signal caller also capped all the scoring in the contest with a 43-yard run to paydirt at the 6:12 mark of the fourth quarter.

Late in the fourth quarter, Walker competed a 23-yard pass to Ashton Packard at the N-Y 8-yard line. From there, the Golden Eagles moved the ball to the inch-yard line where they turned the ball over on downs on a fourth-down situation.

In the second half, Walker attempted just three passes, one of which was intercepted by Nelsonville-York’s Nathan Fox.

Tate finished the game with three receptions for 39 yards, all in the first half.

Mike Waderker was Belpre’s leading ground-gainer with 48 yards on 17 carries.

Belpre concludes its 2006 campaign when it plays at Meigs at 7:30 p.m. Friday night. The No. 10 Marauders are currently battling for a playoff berth in Ohio D-IV, Region 15.

Contact Ron Johnston at [email protected]